Promises
by KitAngel
Summary: The saying is “You can’t go home again” But Maria DeLuca has no choice. A promise made long ago forces her to go back to the town that broke her spirit and turned her life upside down.
1. Prologue: Find My Way Home

Promises  
  
Prologue: Find My Way Home  
  
Disclamer: I don't own Roswell  
  
Summary:The saying is "You can't go home again" But Maria DeLuca has no choice. A promise made long ago forces her to go back to the town that broke her spirit and turned her life upside down.  
  
  
  
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep,  
  
And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep."  
  
---Robert Frost  
  
  
  
It had been seven years since she had been home. But sometimes you don't have a choice. She had seen her mother every weekend after A my had moved to Memphis. Now she would fulfill her mother's last wish. She would burry her in the town she was bon in. As always Maria had second thoughts about bringing her daughters back to the town that had been her undoing. But she didn't have much choice in that either. Paige, Zoe, and Alexis's father was finally out of the picture. Her daughters, respectively 5, 2, and a year and a half, were Maria's life. Maria looked into the review mirror of the minivan. Instead of her three there were four girls asleep in the back seats. Kathleen, her ex husband's daughter was the single blonde. The other's had their father's deep brunette hair. Each one had her curls while Kat's was straight. Kat's mother had died six weeks ago. Two weeks after Joe, her father, had been locked up in jail. So Katie had become her responsibility. Not that she minded. Katie was a beautiful Girl and she had loved her mother very much so her father hadn't corrupted her like he had his younger children. 5 Year old Paige was withdrawn while 2 year old Zoe was always on edge. It was no secret in the small town where she lived that Joe Diego had physically abused his wife and oldest daughter. Katie had lived with her mother until she became too ill for her daughter to be around the house. She had pleaded with Maria to take her when she died. Amy had died of cancer only five short weeks later. She had lived long enough to see her daughter and her grand daughters liberated from the monster they had lived with. Liberation at a cost. Maria had not seen any of her alien friends since that day seven years ago when she walked out of the crashdown and didn't come back. That was the last time she had seen her human friends also. Liz Parker, the one person she trusted above all and had known all her life, had never been contacted. Maria wondered if it was wise. She knew that if Liz knew what Joe had done to her she would find away to get her best friend out. But Maria wasn't that strong. She had left out of fear. But she was back out of loyalty. And for some reason she knew that the world would spin on it's axis and never be right again.  
  
Maria laughed to herself. Like the world had been right from the moment she had met Joe Diego. But she was free now. Maria pulled her wedding ring out of her pocket. The beautiful 10 thousand dollar ring he had given her. And rolled down the window, She threw the ring as far as she could. She felt less weighed down now. Joe's lawyers had come up with a divorce settlement that had pleased everyone. Each kid would get a savings bond of one hundred thousand dollars. Maria had received just over two million in the settlement. Plus he had payed for Katie's mother's funeral and Amy's funeral. Hell he could afford it. He was a billionaire. He could rot in hell for all Maria cared he had taken away her only son, her precious Christopher. Now the bastard would be jailed for murder.   
  
Maria looked back again, her three were slumped in their seats. Katie sat alert her green eyes shining with interest. She had never been outside the small town of Bayberry Tennessee.   
  
"Aunt Maria are we almost there?" The precocious six year old asked.   
  
"Yeah pumpkin just a few more miles, about fifteen minutes. Aren't you tired? It's almost eight o' clock." Maria asked her.  
  
"No, I can't wait." "Really?" Maria asked. The others were nervous, but not Katie. Katie hadn't been able to wait to get away from Bayberry. Maria had swore that they would never live in that town again.   
  
```  
  
Paige Elizabeth Diego watched through slitted eyelids as her mother drove in the never ending desert. New Mexico was so much different than Tennessee. Paige's sisters Zoe and Lexi sat in their car seats asleep. Lexi's sipper cup was tipped over beside her. Zoe clutched the bear that their astronomer aunt had named Ursa, After Ursa Minor, Or the Little Dipper, Also called Little Bear. Zoe didn't like guys. Neither did Paige or Katie. Before that night their father had never hit Zoe before. But he scared her. Now everybody scared Zoe.  
  
Maria wondered what she would tell the people of Roswell. Nobody know about the years of hell she had been put through with Joe, not even Liz. Maria wondered if any of her old friends would still be in Roswell. She would be arriving two days before her mothers body, that would give her time to regroup and answer all their questions. If anybody even talked to her when she showed up for the first time in seven years. Maria touched her sore ribs and the past flooded back. She pinched herself like her therapist said to do and the memories slithered down deep. She looked beside her to see that Kate had fallen to sleep, she smiled at the little girl and looked up as they entered Roswell city limits. 


	2. Chapter 1: The Arrival

Chapter1: The Arrival  
  
"Wherever you go, you always take yourself with you." -proverb  
  
  
  
Driving into Roswell was like driving through a time machine. The place looked exactly the same. Maria paused in front of the CrashDown Café, but she didn't stop she didn't think she was up for the big reunion. She needed rest, she needed to get to get the girls into beds, especially Lexi or she would be cranky in the morning. Maria pulled up to the nicest hotel in town, she went into pay thankful that nobody she knew was in there. They had room 67, it was on the first floor, which was good if you had to carry four kids to the room. She went to unlock the door and turn down the beds. Then she went to get the girls. She did the hardest first, opening the back door she whispered in Paige's ear.  
  
  
  
"Paige it's me. I'm going to pick you up now. It's okay its Mommy." If Maria didn't let Paige know that she was going to touch her before she did it, then she would fly off the handle and start swinging. It was a reflex from when Joe had been around. A sign of four years of abuse. After putting Paige on the bed that she would be sharing with Zoe she went to get Zoe. She did the same thing whispering the whole time she handled the young child. Once Zoe was in bed she went back out to the car. It was no surprise that Katie was still awake. She slept in intervals, never sleeping more than three hours at a time. Maria told Katie to stay with Lexi while she slipped into the hotel room and set up the collapsible crib. She went back out and got Lexi and put her in the bed and then she and Kate went out and got the bags from the car. Two hours later she tucked Kate back into bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed she smoothed her blonde hair behind Kate's ear.  
  
  
  
"Time to go back to sleep, morning comes early in New Mexico." Maria smiled at the little girl.  
  
  
  
Kate reached up and played with a curl of Maria's hair. She was tired again.   
  
"Aunt Maria, is daddy going to come and find us again." Kate asked. The fear shown in her eyes. For the two weeks after Christopher died and until Joe had officially been charged Maria and the girls had ben constantly on the run. Every time they turned around Joe was there taunting them. Letting them know he was always one step ahead. He had finally been taken into custody when he snatched Kate in Clarksville.   
  
  
  
"It's okay baby, I promise. He wont be it the position to contact us for a very long time. You remember what I told you yesterday right?" Maria asked.  
  
"Yeah" Kate nodded. "He's in prison. The place for bad people, right?" Maria nodded. She had tried to explain it to the girls but it had never really grasped the concept.  
  
"He wont ever hurt you again, okay? Now go to sleep."  
  
Three hours later Maria woke to the sound of Lexi crying. Both girls were still asleep. Kate had just fallen back asleep an hour ago. Maria went to get Lexi and setteled her in the full size bed between herself and Kate. Maria patted her pack and sang to her in a low voice.   
  
There's a little bird  
  
Somebody sent down to the Earth  
  
To live on the wind  
  
Blowing on the wind  
  
And she sleeps on the wind  
  
This little bird somebody sent  
  
Light and fragile  
  
And feather sky blue  
  
Thin and graceful  
  
Sun shining through  
  
She flies so high up in the sky  
  
Way out of reach of human eyes  
  
Light and fragile  
  
She's feathered sky blue  
  
Thin and graceful  
  
The sun shining through  
  
And the only time  
  
That she touches the ground  
  
Is when that little bird  
  
Little bird  
  
Is when that little bird  
  
Little bird  
  
Is when that little bird dies  
  
Maria drifted back to sleep about the same time that Lexi did. And for the first time in a long tome she slept peaceful in a dreamless bliss. The only thought that came to mind as she drifted off was that she was Home. Totally and completely home. It felt as if she had been working the last seven years trying to make it back here, only she didn't know where here was until a minute ago. Roswell, New Mexico was and always would be Home.   
  
_________________________________*****_______________________________________  
  
  
  
Note: I don't know where the song came from. It is a lullaby my mom used to sing to me and my brother when we were little.  
  
The Next chapter will be longer, I promise.  
  
_________________________________*****_______________________________________ 


	3. Chapter 2: Part 1: The Consequences

Disclamer: I don't own Roswell  
  
Chapter 2-Part 1: The Consequences   
  
  
  
"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."   
  
-Anon.   
  
  
  
It was just after eight the next morning when Maria awoke again. The three oldest girls were watching cartoons on Zoe and Paige's bed. Paige and Kate sat side by side and Zoe snuggled in Paige's lap. Alexis was spread out on the bed beside Maria, still sleeping.   
  
"Hey girls, how about breakfast?" Maria asked the three girls.  
  
"Yeah," Paige said "What's for breakfast?" she asked   
  
"Well, I have donuts on the table that we bought in Santa Fe." Maria told them.  
  
"Awww mommy," Paige whined "Why can't we eat out for breakfast"   
  
"Beacuse" Maria told her. "Mommy hasn't been back to Roswell for a long time. There are a lot of people Mommy want's to see. But not until she's ready."  
  
"Okay" Paige said sighing dramatically. "We'll eat the donuts." and they did.  
  
***  
  
Two hours later Maria was almost done getting the girls dressed. She had just put Zoe in a pair of pink overalls and a white shirt and was now diapering Alexis. She pulled on a yellow one shirt that buttons at the bottom and a pair of blue jeans. Kate and Paige were already dressed and playing with their game boys. Maria put Alexis in the playpen with some toys and sat Zoe on a blanket with a coloring book and some crayons. When the knock on the door came they were all totally unprepared. They were more unprepared who was at the door when she opened it.   
  
Behind the door stood the people she wanted to see the most, and the least. Max, Liz, Michael, and Isabel looked both older and more mature than the last time Maria had seen them. The girls had gone quiet. Maria glanced over her sholder and saw that the girls had moved to the corner of the room. Paige once again held Zoe on her lap while Kate cradled Alexis in her arms.   
  
"Maria, it is you!!" Liz yelled excidedly. Before Liz could hug her Maria quickly closed the door and stood on the doorstep of the hotel.  
  
"How did you know I was here. I was planning to come by the crashdown sometime later tonight or tomorrow." Maria asked her old friends.   
  
"This is a small town. Stephanie Kramer told us. You remember her? She went to high school with us. She owns this hotel." Liz told her.  
  
"I don't mean to sound rude. But you've been gone for seven years. What made you come back now." Michael asked her. His eyes were hard.  
  
"You said it yourself," Maria told them. "This is a small town. "I'm suprised you haven't heard yet." Maria told them.  
  
"Heard what" Isabel asked   
  
"It's mom." Maria told them "She's dead."  
  
TBC 


	4. Chapter 2: Part 2 The Consequences

Chapter 2: Part 2 The Consequences  
  
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."   
  
-Robert Frost   
  
Nobody said a word for a minute or so. The shock on the faces of her old friends made Maria want to laugh at the irony. Liz closed her eyes pulling herself together.   
  
"How did she die." She asked quietly. Liz had been like another daughter to Amy Deluca and Amy had been like another mother to Liz.  
  
"She had terminal leukemia, they said that she'd had it for about three years before it was diagnosed. They said it sometimes became a silent killer. She had lots of headaches. Flu like symptoms. She finally died four days ago. The funeral will be the day after tomorrow." Maria recited the information as she had for the last couple days to the few relatives they had left.   
  
"OH Maria, I'm so sorry." Liz breathed. She was starting to cry. Max pulled her into his arms and she began to sob. Maria shed no tears. Tears never came. Her mother had lived a full life she had her child and her business and when she went to Tennessee the year after Maria did she found the love of her life, Adam Bennet they were married only a month later and eight months after that gave birth to a set of twins. A boy and a Girl, Joshua and Jessica Bennett who would be six in three months. Maria told her friends about her step father and her younger siblings. Liz had stopped crying but Michael had a pained look on his face. He knew how much Maria was hurting- he could sense it. But he didn't have any right to hope for a way to help take that pain away. He had left first.   
  
Just after maria had told her tale the door to the motel room opened a crack. A little voice said "Momma, is it daddy? Awe you okay?" Maria smiled and pushed open the door a little more and picked up the little girl.  
  
"No baby. Daddy isn't here. These are my friends. You remember the ones I told you about?" Maria asked and the little girl shoved her face into Maria's neck.  
  
"Guys this is my daughter Paige, Paige this is Liz, Max, Isabel, and Michael." Maria smiled the look on their faces was priceless. Maria pushed the door open the rest of the way. The girls were on the bed watching cartoons again. They looked absolutley normal, if you didn't notice Kate's stiff posture. When they heard the door open they looked up.   
  
"These are my other girls. The two other brunets are my daughters Zoe and Alexis. The blonde is my step daughter Kate." Maria made other introductions and fielded questions. Then the hard one came and it came from the one she never would have expected.   
  
"Who's their father?" Michael asked. Maria paused and ushered her friends outside. She didn't want her girls to hear her lie.   
  
"In Tennessee, were divorced." Maria told them. She fielded a few more questions and agreed to bring the girls to the Crashdown for lunch in two hours. Everybody filed out except for Max. He looked at her intently.   
  
"Why did you lie to them?" He asked. Maria tried hard to keep her expression natural so Max couldn't see through her.   
  
"I didn't lie." Maria told him about to go back in the motel room.   
  
"Well does this sound familiar 'Tennessee billionaire, Joe Diego, set to appear in court for the murder of his young son and numerous counts of child abuse, assault, and the attempted murders of his young wife Maria DeLuca Diego and their oldest daughter Paige Elizabeth Diego.' I'd say you lied." 


	5. Chapter 3: Coming Clean

Chapter 3: Coming Clean  
  
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."   
  
-Ralph Waldo Emerson  
  
  
  
Maria closed the door quickly. She stopped in her tracks. Terror bubbled up in her. How had he known. She had tried very hard to keep her name out of the papers. Apparently he had seen the one that did publish her whole name.   
  
"How did you know. Do they know. No if they knew I would know they knew. But I didn't know you knew. Dammit HOW!" Maria was mumbling uncontrollably.  
  
`"Shhh" Max told her. "It'll be alright. None of them knows just me. Not even Liz." Max tried to sooth her.  
  
"How" Maria uttered the only word her brain could form.  
  
"After you left I watched you. I followed you. To make sure that you were okay. I figured that Michael would have never forgiven me if you had been killed and I wasn't there to stop it. But I felt an obligation. When Michael came back I never told him or any of the others that I knew where you lived or that you had married and had kids. I didn't think you wanted them to know. I don't know when he started to hit you. According to your mom he hid it well. He knew where to hit that you would never see a bruise. I wanted to kill him. You are Liz's best friend and like family to me. To us all. But I waited, waited to see if you would come for help. But you never did. You were too proud, too scared, too broken." Max told her the story quietly.  
  
"Wait a minute you said my mom. My mother knew you were there. And how did you leave so often without Liz getting suspiouis." Maria asked.  
  
  
  
"Two years after I graduated I joined the FBI. I knew somebody on the inside that helped me get on the inside too. They never knew who I was. It was a thrill to put one over on the organization that had caused me so much pain. I quit last year" Max smiled.  
  
"WHAT ABOUT MY MOTHER" Maria was getting impatient.  
  
"Your mom knew I was there watching over you. She talked me out of killing your husband. Your step dad knew I was there too. But I didn't know she died. I knew she was sick but when I tried to heal her it didn't work. She said that it was fate. Meant to be. Destiny. Damn I hate that word. I think Paige knew I was there, she looked at me like she did. She figured me out before all of you. If she didn't look so much like Joe Diego I would wonder if she really was his daughter. She's so smart." Max smiled again. He meant it Paige was smart. Max and Maria talked a little before Maria let him into the motel room. When paige saw him again her eyes lit up.   
  
"Do you know Max?" Maria asked her.  
  
Paige nodded sticking her thumb in her mouth then taking it out again.   
  
  
  
"I saw him at Gramma's house. When I asked her who he was she said he was our angel. That he would try and help keep daddy gone." Paige smiled then her smile faltered.   
  
  
  
"But daddy hit momma again and my little brother died. Gramma said the angel tried to save him but something were meant to be. Destiny."Paige put her thumb back into her mouth and went back to the bed and sat down to watch T.V. It perplexed Maria. She was totally comfortable around him. It took a minute before the reason dawned. She didn't see him as a human man. She saw him as a Angel. Maria realized that her mother had planned it that way. So she wouldn't be scare in the event that Max had to come 'save' them.  
  
"I better go" Max told her. "Liz is going to start to wonder where I am. I'll see you guys in a couple of hours." He turned to Maria. "Don't worry, Your secret's safe with me. I won't tell anyone. If you need me call." He told her before he handed her a card with his cell phone and home phone number.   
  
  
  
"I own a security company since I quit the FBI. The number's on there." He told her before slipping out the door. Maria felt lighter somehow. She wasn't alone anymore. She felt better knowing she had an ally. Maybe she would come out of this alive after all.   
  
_______________________________________________________  
  
TBC 


	6. Chapter 4: Lunch Date With Fate

Disclamer: Idon't own Roswell  
  
Chapter 4: Lunch Date With Fate  
  
  
  
"Fear less, hope more;  
  
Whine less, breathe more;  
  
Talk less, say more;  
  
Hate less, love more;  
  
And all good things are yours."   
  
-Swedish Proverb   
  
The Crashdown café was relatively empty that day at 2:00. Maria carried Zoe on her hip and the double stroller had the baby in the front and six year old Katie was konked out in the back. She had dropped off on the walk over to the diner. Maria wasn't suprised or worried, this was a typical day with Kate. She fell asleep for three or four hours. Sometimes if Maria was lucky she would sleep for five whole hours at night.   
  
Maria led the way over to where the others were sitting in a booth. Liz pushed a table over and connected it with the table and brought her two high chairs and a booster seat. There was already two highchairs sitting at the table. Liz introduced her to her baby son Jason. The baby looked exactly like his daddy.  
  
"We have two more" Liz told her. "But they are at school and daycare today. Andrew is six and Jacob is four." Liz told her as Maria lifted Alexis into the highchair. She went without a fuss. She then moved the seat in the stroller up so she could move Katie's legs out. But when she went to put Zoe down in the other highchair she screamed bloody murder. Maria smiled and apologized and sat Zoe down on her lap.  
  
"This little one," Isabel said introducing the other baby "Is my daughter Hannah. She's nine months." Maria and the others talked for a while. Lots of times she would look up at Michael and he would be looking at her or one of the girls. Kate slept through the hole meal and Paige didn't say a word. Somehow they came upon the subject of houses.   
  
"We live in a four bedroom just out of town" Liz said. "With three boys we need all the space we can get. Thank God I'm a pediatrician or we would die from medical bills."  
  
"Your really a doctor?" Maria asked "Somehow when we were kids I figured you to be a scientist not a doctor."   
  
"Well I'm new at this gig. I worked my ass of for almost eight years. I went to school year around just to get my diploma. And trust me that's no small feat with two small kids." Liz told her.  
  
"Tell me about it," Maria told her. "Try doing it with two then three then four kids, a sick mom and a husband who doesn't want you to get your diploma." Liz looked at her shocked. Maria just started to laugh.  
  
"Liz I'm surprised at you. We've been friends for so long and you just assumed I was an Idiotic high school dropout. Nope. I may have married Joe because I was pregnant but I went back to school. I taught Criminal Law for a while." Maria told her.  
  
"But... I Just- I mean I just assumed that you never- I mean-" Liz stammered.  
  
"Yeah I know what you mean. I would have made the same assumption. I had a few extenuating circumstances that I don't wish to disclose but on another subject..." Maria pulled the subject away from her. "Who runs the Crashdown now. I always thought you would inherit it when your parents moved to Florida." Maria asked  
  
"No, Im about to get my practice started. Michael is running it for the rest of the year. My cousin Leigh is going to take over then. Michael lives in the apartment upstairs." She told her and Maria looked over to Michael feeling his heated glance.  
  
"Oh" Liz said. "By the way. I talked to my mom. She'll be back for the funeral. They will be here sometime tomorrow." Just then they were interrupted by a scream. It had come from the stroller where Kate slept. Paige jumped up and grabbed Zoe so Maria could pull Kate out of the stroller. She was thrashing and turning letting off loud screams.   
  
"Hush baby. Its okay. Your okay. I got you." By now Maria was oblivious to her audience. She did the only thing that would calm the girl down... She began to sing.  
  
There's a little bird  
  
Somebody sent down to the Earth  
  
To live on the wind  
  
Blowing on the wind  
  
And she sleeps on the wind  
  
This little bird somebody sent  
  
Light and fragile  
  
And feather sky blue  
  
Thin and graceful  
  
Sun shining through  
  
She flies so high up in the sky  
  
Way out of reach of human eyes  
  
Light and fragile  
  
She's feathered sky blue  
  
Thin and graceful  
  
The sun shining through  
  
And the only time  
  
That she touches the ground  
  
Is when that little bird  
  
Little bird  
  
Is when that little bird  
  
Little bird  
  
Is when that little bird dies  
  
As Kate started to calm down Maria told Paige to Put Zoe and Alexis in the stroller. She put down a twenty to pay for their food and cradled Kate in her arms and made a fast get away with Paige pushing the stroller in front of her. By the time she left the restraunt Kate was totally calm. But her breathing was heavy and abnormal. Maria carried her back to the hotel praying that this episode wouldn't be followed by what it usually was. A seizure.  
  
_______________________________________________________ 


	7. Chapter 5: A Day of Mourning

Chapter 5: A Day of Mourning  
  
"I've developed a new philosophy... I only dread one day at a time."   
  
-Charlie Brown   
  
  
  
By seven that night Maria was certain that God was giving her a break for once. Kate had woken up shortly after they had arrived at the hotel. Totally calm. She had fallen back asleep an hour later. Maria hadn't been able to sleep at all but the girls were snoring away. The ordeal had exhausted Kate and she slept like she did after every night terror. After they had all fallen asleep Maria had called her step-father. Adam was a licensed child psychologist, he had treated Paige and Zoe after their brother died. He had been treating Kate ever since her father had snatched her. Kate never talked about the time during her ordeal, but the night terrors had started right after she had been returned to Maria. The police had told Maria that no charges would come against Joe for the kidnaping stunt he had pulled, Kate was his biological daughter and her mother was dead. Maria and Joe hadn't been officially divorced yet.  
  
  
  
Maria's mind wondered as she sat on the bed next to Kate. Adam had told her to watch the child for sings of a seizure. She usually had them following the night terrors. She had talked to the twins for a while, but since they were on their way to bed she couldn't talk long. Adam and the twins had to be at the airport at four the next morning so they could make the funeral the next afternoon.   
  
  
  
Maria laid her head against the headboard and closed her eyes for a second. The next thing she knew it was light inside the hotel room. Maria looked at the clock. 6:00 a.m. She could tell Kate had woken during the night. She was conked out again on a pile of pillows and blankets on the floor in front of the turned on T.V. Maria looked over at the crib where Alexis was. She was standing up by the railing watching her mother. Maria smiled at her then she frowned, Alexis was almost two by the time the other girls were two they had been climbing out of their cribs. That was how she had known that they were ready for regular beds. But Alexis was-for lack of a better term-A scaredey cat. She was cautious and calm. She was also deliberate. She was also known to throw full blown tantrums when she didn't get her way. These were all traits that reminded Maria of Alexis' father. The fact that she could see Joe so clearly in Alexis scared the beejeezes out of Maria.  
  
"Mama, Out." Alexis said but when Maria, who was still daydreaming, didn't move fast enough to suit her she started yelling.  
  
"OUT! OUT! OUT! OUT!" Maria came to the side of the crib and looked down at her daughter. Adams words entered her mind just as she would have picked her up. "If you give into her when she makes demands shell just keep doing it. It's not going to hurt anybody if she yells and throws a tantrum just let her finish." So Maria looked at her daughter and made sure she was looking in her eyes before she spoke.  
  
  
  
"Mommy doesn't listen when Lexi yells. If you want out you can sit quietly until mommy gets out of the shower then you can come out." Alexis' bottom lip began to quiver as Maria walked away. She hated this part. The tears were so hard to ignore. But Maria held herself together and got into the shower. She let the shower spray onto her stinging eyes. She couldn't cry. She could never cry anymore. The tears wouldn't come. So she finished washing and got out of the shower. Refreshed and dressed in the jeans and yellow t-shirt she would wear until the funeral Maria walked back into the room. Alexis was sitting in her crib playing with her dolls. When she saw Maria come out of the shower she looked up and smiled,  
  
  
  
"Mommy out Peas" Alexis said. Maria smiled and picked up her daughter and cuddled her against her chest. She smelled the baby shampoo smell of her and smiled. This is what she lived for. Her babies were all that mattered. It was almost seven so Maria woke paige and Kate up. She put Kate in the tub and dressed the others who had been bathed the night before. Paige, Kate, and Zoe wore matching black lacy dresses. Maria wore a Black skirt and a black lacy top. She put Alexis in a navy blue sailor dress that Amy had picked out for her to wear at her funeral.   
  
Just as she was about to get them out of the hotel room for a quick breakfast before the service, there was a nock on the door. She opened it to see her step-dad and her brother and sister. She ushered them inside for a minute and them with all the kids ready the left for breakfast.   
  
_______________________________________________________Disclamer:I do not own Roswell or any of its characters.  
  
*******************************************************  
  
PS: Thank All of you who have given be reviews and feed back. It is all apreciated. 


	8. Chapter 6: The Funeral

Chapter 6: The funeral  
  
"Don't take life seriously because you can't come out of it alive."   
  
-Warren Miller   
  
  
  
Walking up to the church that she had spent almost every Sunday morning for almost sixteen years was almost surreal for Maria. She held Zoe on her hip and held Paige's hand. Adam carried Alexis and the twins and Kate walked in front of them.  
  
"Adam, I'm not sure I'm ready for this." Maria said. "I don't think I can say goodbye." Maria stopped and pit Zoe on the ground and took her hand.  
  
Adam stopped too he turned to face his step-daughter. "You're stronger than you think baby girl. You and your mother are the strongest and most stubborn people that I have ever met. And I'm better for it. I loved her with all of my heart. I wish we had more time, but the simple answer is we don't. I'll always love her but you know she doesn't want to be mourned." Adam gave her a hug that was awkward with Alexis in his arms. Just then a good-looking blonde ban stepped out of the doors of the church. Maria looked up and when she recognized the man she dropped the girls' hands and ran to him.  
  
"Daddy! Oh daddy thank god you're here." She launched into his arms and gave him a hug. Her daddy smiled and patted her head and smoothed he blonde curls like she was five instead of twenty-four. Her father and mother had reconciled their differences four years ago and become friends. He was a wonderful grandfather to Maria's daughters and a wonderful father to herself and his other children; fifteen year old Sadie, nine year old Samantha, seven year old Robbie, and three year old Alissa. Sam and his wife of sixteen years, Megan, lived in Georgia.  
  
By the time Maria let him go out of his bear hug Adam and the kids had joined them. They all said his and went into the church. It was still empty except for Sam's wife and their kids. Meg took the girls over to the corner where hers were playing with dolls and toys. Robbie and Josh being the only boys tended to stick together in this setting with all the girls. They were playing a game involving imaginary horses and camels when 15 year old Sadie walked over to her.   
  
"Hey sweetie" Maria said hugging her. Not long after that Amy's two sisters Jodie and Angela showed up without their husbands and kids. Amy's brother Jon would probably be late. Hugs and kisses went around again and everybody got settled as the doors opened again. Max and Liz had arrived with their kids and Maria made introductions. Liz hugged Jodie and said  
  
"Aunt Jodie, It's been a long time." Max who had never met Maria's aunts introduced himself. Sadie took the two older boys over to where the others were playing and Maria pointed out all the kids and where they had come from for L:iz. Isabel and her husband Jesse were the next to show up with Hannah. Liz and Max's parents followed. This time Jodie introduces the pack as Maria got a hug and kiss from Nancy Parker. Alex's parents showed up next and Maria wished Alex could have been here. When Jim Valenti got there Maria wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. The three men that Amy Deluca had loved at one time or another were all there. Sam, Jim, and Adam. The church was starting to fill up with old friends and neighbors when Michael arrived. He came over and shook Adam's hand and gave Maria a quick peck on the cheek.   
  
"How are you holding up?" He whispered in her ear.  
  
"I'll survive." Maria told him "I always do" Adam had just settled all of her kids on the bench next to her when Kyle Valenti arrived. Kyle was the only one of her old friends that she kept in touch with. When Zoe saw him she jumped up out of her seat and ran to Kyle.  
  
"Uncle Kyle! You came." She shouted.   
  
"Of course Angel. I wouldn't miss it for the world." He came over and sat down next to Maria with Zoe on his lap and said his hellos to all the kids. Maria looked over at where Michael was sitting and saw that he was turned to face her. There was jealously written all over his face. Before she could say anything the ceremony started.  
  
  
  
"Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to say goodbye to a dear friend, mother, sister, grandmother, and wife. We shall start with a prayer:  
  
  
  
The Lord is my shepherd;  
  
I shall not want.  
  
He maketh me lie down in green pastures;  
  
He leadeth me beside still waters  
  
He restoreth my soul;  
  
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his Name's sake.  
  
Yea, theogh I walk through the vally of the shaddow of death, I will fear no evil;   
  
for thou art with me;  
  
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.  
  
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;  
  
thou anointest my head with oil;  
  
my cup runneth over.  
  
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,  
  
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.'  
  
"Please stand" The minister asked of them.   
  
  
  
" I am Resurrection and I am Life, says the lord  
  
Whoever has faith in me shall have life,  
  
even though he die.  
  
And everyone who has life,  
  
and has committed himself to me in faith  
  
shall not die forever...."  
  
  
  
Maria's mind faded out as the minister continued. This was so surreal Maria hand thought, in some what childish terms, that her mother would live forever. Maria would remember the day Amy Deluca Died for the rest of her life.  
  
  
  
FLASHBACK  
  
  
  
Maria sat in the big bed room at the house her mother and her new family had lived for almost six years. Amy Deluca laid in the middle of the huge bed looking pale and weak. She had refused to spend her last days at a hospital. She told her husband earlier that day that she needed Maria to bring the girls over to say goodbye.  
  
"This is the day" Maria told her husband. "I don't know how I know but I do." Maybe it was the same part of her that had known that when she was pregnant with her oldest daughter that it would be a girl. And that she would be born an month and a half early. Or that she dad known into her second month of her other pregnancy that she would be having twins. A boy and a girl. She told her husband and daughter. Two months later the doctor told her she was carrying twins. Four months after that she had Josh and Jessica. Call it women's intuition or whatever you wanted Amy Deluca knew that the day had come where she would die. Amy gave her granddaughters kisses and hugs and the older ones cried. They knew what happened when somebody died. Poor Kate had just lost her Mommy and now her grammy was going to heaven too.  
  
"When you see Mommy in Heaven tell her I miss her very much and I love her." Kate told her Grammy.  
  
"I promise" Amy told her. Maria's friend Savannah came to pick up the kids and now they were alone. Maria sat in the chair beside the bed as Adam got up to get them drinks. Amy had insisted that she wanted champagne.  
  
"Come here baby," Amy said motioning for Maria to join her on the bed.  
  
"It's going to be alright you know. I promise. Everybody has to go sometime. My mission on this earth is complete." Amy hugged Maria to her. In the deepest part of her heart, where she would never admit she was scared. Not to die, but to leave her babies. Especially Maria who needed her so much right now. She turned Maria's face toward hers and looked into her eyes.  
  
"I believe Joan Borysenko said it best; 'The question is not whether we will die, but how we will live.' We all knew this time was coming."  
  
"I know." Maria told her "But how am I suposto live without you. You are my mommy"Maria buried her head into her moms shoulder. Just then Adam walked back in with three flutes of champagne. They all toasted to life. When they were done Maria sat on the bed next to Amy and Adam sat on the chair on her other side. Each held one of her hands.   
  
"Maria," Amy spoke.  
  
"Do you remember that song that I used to sing to you when you were little?" Maria nodded. "Will you sing it to me now" Maria nodded again and began to sing. She held tightly to her mother's hand.   
  
"The journey home  
  
Is never too long  
  
Your heart arrives before the train  
  
The journey home  
  
Is never too long  
  
Some yesterdays always remain  
  
I'm going back to where my heart was light  
  
When my pillow was a ship I sailed through the night   
  
The journey home  
  
Is never too long  
  
When open arms are waiting there  
  
The journey home  
  
Is never too long  
  
There's room to love and room to spare  
  
I want to feel the way that I did then  
  
I'll think my wishes through before I wish again   
  
Not every road you come across  
  
Is one you have to take  
  
No, sometimes standing still can be  
  
The best move you ever make   
  
The journey home  
  
Is never too long  
  
One helps to heal the deepest pain  
  
The journey home  
  
Is never too long  
  
Your heart arrives before the train."  
  
As Maria sang Amy laid her head back. With her husband and daughter sitting on either side of her she closed her eyes and took the Journey home. As her grip on her daughters hand slackened Maria knew that her mother had gone. She kissed her mom's cheek and whispered in her ear,  
  
"Have a safe Journey"  
  
******  
  
Maria came back to the present just as the minister finished the ceremony. As the body of her mother was carried out of the church the minister's words continued.  
  
  
  
"Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and giving life to those in the tomb.  
  
The Son of Righteousness is gloriously risen, giving light to those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death.  
  
The Lord will guide our feet into the way of peace, having taken away the sin of the world.  
  
Christ will open the kingdom of heaven to all who believe in his name, saying, Come, O blessed of my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you.  
  
Into paradise may the angels lead thee; and at thy coming may he martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem."   
  
The people filed out of the church. Maria and the family followed the casket in a limo to the church. Amy would be buried next to Christopher who had been brought here by Kyle and buried in the middle of the night. Today his grave would be covered for the ceremony. The minister stood by the casket that would be lowered into the ground. Maria and her step-dad and the girls and the twins sat in the front row. Sam sat behind Maria with his hand on his daughter's shoulder. As the casket was lowered into the ground maria clutched her father and Adam's hands and concentrated on the minister's words.  
  
  
  
"In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God, our sister Amelia; and we commit her body to its final resting place; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. The Lord bless, her and keep her, the Lord make his face to shine upon her and be gracious unto her, the Lord lift up his countenance upon her and give her peace. Amen."  
  
  
  
The minister motioned Maria and Adam to step up to where the casket had been lowered into the ground. They each picked up a handful of dirt and tossed it into the grave and whispered "Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust." They stood off to the side as mourners stood and were given roses to toss into the grave.  
  
  
  
"Our Father, who art in heaven,  
  
hallowed be thy Name,  
  
thy kingdom come,  
  
thy will be done,  
  
On earth as it is in heaven.  
  
Give us this day our daily bread.  
  
And forgive us our trespasses,   
  
As we forgive those who trespass against us,  
  
And lead us not into temptation,  
  
but deliver us from evil.  
  
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,  
  
forever and ever. Amen"  
  
Just as the ceremony ended Adam got a call on his cell phone. He took it to a quiet place while Maria thanked everybody for being here and shook there hands. Jessica stood off to the side and sand Amazing Grace in a clear sweet voice. Maria was just about to collect her kids when Adam came back only to pull her over to where he was before.  
  
"That was from Rachael" He told her mentioning Maria's friend and a lawyer.   
  
"The judge just granted Joe bail until his trial. They set him free twenty minutes ago"  
  
  
  
  
  
_______________________________________________________  
  
Disclamer: I don't own Roswell or any of it's characters.  
  
Note: The song a is "The Journey Home" Sung By: Sarah Brightman.  
  
Note 2: Yes it's finally a long one. I finally sat down for about two hours and just wrote.  
  
Note to kiki()- You'll find out everything. All in good time. 


End file.
